Thank you for contacting me about Amendment 332 to the EU Withdrawal Bill.
I strongly support the principle of family unity, but it is important to note that there are already legal routes for families to be reunited safely that are not dependent on our EU membership. The UK's family reunion policy has granted over 23,000 family reunion visas over the last five years, and I can assure you that the Government will continue to reunite refugees with their immediate family.
The EU Dublin Regulation determines the Member State with responsibility for assessing an asylum claim. Under the Regulation unaccompanied children present in another EU Member State can be transferred to the UK to have their asylum claim assessed where they have a qualifying family member or relative legally present and transfer is in their best interests. I do expect cooperation on asylum and migration with our European partners to continue after the UK leaves the EU, the exact nature and form of this cooperation will become clear during the negotiations.
Britain has a proud record of helping the most vulnerable who are fleeing conflict and danger. That is why the UK's response to the migrant crisis has indeed been to establish resettlement schemes from the refugee camps in the region. This allows support to be targeted to the most vulnerable people affected by the crisis, while not creating incentives for refugees to undertake dangerous journeys. By 2020, the UK will have resettled 20,000 refugees through our Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, as well as a further 3,000 of the most vulnerable children and their families from the Middle East and North Africa region under the Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
